


family issues.

by pyroallerdyce



Series: captured moments. [13]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Modern: No Powers, Alternate Universe - No Powers, F/M, One Shot Collection, Professor Ben Solo, Short One Shot, Waiters & Waitresses, Wordcount: 1.000-5.000
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-21
Updated: 2020-02-21
Packaged: 2021-02-28 04:08:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,057
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22837567
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pyroallerdyce/pseuds/pyroallerdyce
Summary: Rey took a deep breath when she noticed who had just sat down in her section, telling herself that it was just another table.  It was just another table.  Things would be just fine.Who was she kidding?  This was going to be a disaster.She took another deep breath and walked towards the table, swallowing hard when the man sitting there looked up at her.  “Good evening, Grandfather.”or:  Rey has to deal with her grandfather, but priority number one is keeping him from finding out about her and Ben.
Relationships: Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Series: captured moments. [13]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1602691
Comments: 12
Kudos: 60





	family issues.

**Author's Note:**

> so I've got a writing schedule going now because I have entirely too many things to work on at the moment, so this one shot series I've got going on will be getting new installments every Monday and/or Friday unless I'm seriously ill, so you can (hopefully) look forward to them. 
> 
> And as always, if you like what you read, please let me know via a comment or kudos or bookmark so that I know I'm not writing into a void. Enjoy!

Rey took a deep breath when she noticed who had just sat down in her section, telling herself that it was just another table. It was just another table. Things would be just fine.

Who was she kidding? This was going to be a fucking disaster.

She took another deep breath and walked towards the table, swallowing hard when the man sitting there looked up at her. “Good evening, Grandfather.”

“This is where you are working?” Sheev Palpatine asked. “You turned down my gracious opportunity to work at the university to be a waitress in a place like this?”

Rey bit her tongue briefly to keep her from saying what she really wanted to. “I happen to be happier working as a waitress in a place like this than I would have been being your assistant. What would you like to drink?”

Sheev just shook his head. “You know, if you would just apologize to me, then you wouldn't be needing to work in a place like this. I could take care of everything for you.”

“I am not apologizing for saying something I meant,” Rey said strongly. “What would you like to drink?”

“Iced tea, though if you had any brain whatsoever, you'd have already known that.”

Rey gripped the pen in her hand harder than necessary as she wrote that down in her order book. “That'll be right out then.”

She walked away before Sheev could say another thing, went into the back, buried her face in her hands, and screamed. Poe came out of his office with a concerned look on his face, approaching her when he saw her standing there. “Rey? Everything okay?”

“My grandfather is sitting in my section,” Rey got out, her words muffled by the hands covering her face. “This is going to be terrible.”

Poe wrapped his arms around her and Rey shuddered. “It'll be okay, Rey. I promise you, it'll be okay.”

“Ben's coming in at any moment,” Rey murmured. “And I just know that if my grandfather finds out about him, that's not going to be good for Ben. But I can't just ignore Ben either.”

“I'll deal with Ben,” Poe said quickly. “So even if he ends up sitting in your section, don't go over there. I'll go over there and explain to him what is happening. He'll stick around to see you once your grandfather is gone. I'm sure of that.”

“Thank you,” Rey said, pulling back. “Now I have to go try not to throw a glass of iced tea in my grandfather's face.”

“If you do give in and throw food in his face, I'm not going to fire you over it. But please don't do that.”

Rey let out a small laugh. “Good to know that I wouldn't be fired, but I'm not going to do that. That would just make my life worse when it comes to him.”

“Well, I don't want that to happen. But you can handle this, Rey. I know you can.”

“Thanks, Poe.” Rey walked into the kitchen and got a glass of iced tea, heading back to her grandfather. “A glass of iced tea. There are sugar packets already on the table. What would you like to order?”

Sheev just shook his head as he reached for the glass. “Oh no, you're going to have to sell me on eating here.”

“Excuse me?”

“Well, now that I know you're working in this place, I'm not entirely sure that I want to eat here,” Sheev sneered. “It clearly isn't an establishment that has any sort of taste or class.”

It took all of Rey's self-control not to grab the glass from his hands and pour the iced tea over his head. “This is a great place,” she countered back. “The food is excellent, the staff is friendly, and the locals love it. I don't know what you're doing on this side of town or why you're in here, but you obviously found it good enough to eat in before you saw me, so why you can't stick with that opinion now is beyond me.”

“I am on this side of town because I had a meeting,” Sheev responded. “See, meetings are these things that people do when they have real jobs that they've gotten because they got a real degree. If you had listened to me when it came time for you to choose your degree path, then you would have a real job, not one like this.”

Rey inwardly screamed. “I had personal reasons for doing that degree path and you know it, and I don't care if you don't understand why. You might not have liked her, but I loved my mother.”

“Yes, as you constantly remind me,” Sheev muttered, picking up the menu. “Since I have already gone to the trouble of coming here, I will stay and eat. But only because of that, certainly not because you have sold me on this being the kind of place I should waste my time on.”

Rey bit back a retort and reached for her order book. “Then what can I get for you?”

Sheev perused the menu for a few moments before ordering, and Rey took the menu from him and walked away without saying another thing. She tried to put the fact that he was there out of her mind as she went to check on a few other tables, but it wasn't going well. Then she looked over at the door when it opened and saw Ben walk in, and while just the sight of him was enough to make her feel better, she couldn't go talk to him since her grandfather was in there, and that just made her angry. 

Ben flashed a smile in Rey's direction as he reached for a menu, but Rey didn't return it, and he was confused as she walked into the back without coming to speak to him. He decided that she must be having a rough shift and headed towards the back, sitting down at a table and getting his book out of his bag. She'd come to tell him what was going on soon enough, and then he'd try to help her through it the way she was always helping him through things. 

He'd barely gotten the book open before Poe was sitting down across from him. “Rey's not going to come over here, okay?”

Ben was suddenly alarmed. “What did I do to anger her?”

“You didn't do anything,” Poe soothed. “But her grandfather is in here, and she doesn't want him to know about you.”

Ben sat there for a moment. “Why?” he eventually asked.

“Rey thinks that he wouldn't approve of you and she doesn't want to have him make your life at the university a living hell because of it,” Poe explained. “Therefore, she is not going to come over here until he is gone. I'll have Jannah come get your order, okay?”

“She thinks he wouldn't approve of me?”

“That's what she's said, yes.”

Ben ran his hands over his face. “So I'm not good enough for him. Great.”

“I think it's more about your age difference than anything else, but she's got a really difficult relationship with him and I know that in the end she doesn't care, but since he's in here at the moment, she's going to be careful about not provoking him.”

“She does not have good things to say about him,” Ben murmured. “She hates talking about him and when she does, nothing good is ever said. It's made me start to hate him too.”

“That is something that you should do,” Poe said, standing up. “Jannah will be over soon, okay?”

“Jannah?” Ben questioned.

“New hire,” Poe said, smiling. “She's got tons of experience, so you're in good hands, okay?”

Ben nodded and Poe walked away. He let his eyes scan the room until they landed on Rey, forcing himself to take a deep breath when he saw she was standing at Sheev's table. Rey hadn't told him much of anything about her relationship with her grandfather beyond it not being good, but as he took in her body language, he began to wonder if there was more to that than he'd thought. Rey looked defiant but also scared as she spoke to him, and Ben couldn't help but focus in on the scared part. Why would Rey be scared of her grandfather?

He picked up the menu to try and stop that train of thought before it got out of hand. If he wanted the answer to that question, he was just going to have to ask Rey himself.

A woman approached the table a few minutes later with a bright smile on her face. “Hello, I'm Jannah. I'll be your server tonight. I guess Rey's a little too busy to be able to take your table.”

“Too busy,” Ben murmured. “Sure. Anyway, it's nice to meet you, Jannah. I'm Ben.”

“Oh, you're Ben? Cool,” Jannah said, reaching for her order book. “Rey will definitely be over later then. She's just really busy at the moment. I'm trying my best but I don't know everything around here the way I need to yet so she's carrying the heavier load this evening.”

“Well, tell her I'm looking forward to that.”

“Will do. What can I get you to drink?”

Ben gave her the order and Jannah walked away, his eyes falling back on Rey. She was at a different table now, and he caught her glancing his way. He smiled at her again and this time she gave him a slight smile, so that was an improvement. Hopefully, things would continue to get better for her. 

Rey tore her attention away from Ben and went back to work, bringing Sheev his food and immediately leaving. She went over there as much as necessary but not as much as she normally would have, and when she brought him the bill was the best moment of the day. “Here you are. I hope you enjoyed everything.”

“It was alright, I suppose,” Sheev said, collecting the bill off the table. “But you didn't do anywhere near enough to earn a tip from me.”

Rey forced a smile onto her face. “I knew I wasn't going to get one the minute I realized you were at this table, but thanks.”

“I could be giving you a lot more than a couple of dollars and you know it,” Sheev said, standing up. “But since you won't apologize, you're not getting any of it.”

“I'm not apologizing for this. Never.”

“Then I guess you'll be a struggling waitress for the rest of your life, won't you?” Sheev said, shaking his head. “You had so much potential, Rey. To see you here like this is so very disappointing. Your father would be ashamed of you.”

Sheev walked away then and Rey closed her eyes for a moment, forcing herself to take a deep breath. Her grandfather could say that all he wanted, but Rey couldn't believe that her father would actually have felt that way about her. 

She just couldn't.

She cleared off his table and once he had been gone for almost fifteen minutes, she went up to Poe. “Can I take a break and go talk to Ben now?”

“Of course,” Poe said, nodding. “Give me your order book and take as long as you need, okay?”

Rey gave him a grateful smile as she handed it over. “Thank you.”

“Go get some comfort from your boyfriend,” Poe said as he walked away. 

Rey wasn't sure that was a label that Ben was ready to have, but she knew to try to correct Poe was pointless. Everyone already assumed that she was his girlfriend and Ben was her boyfriend and trying to change that wouldn't work. 

She made her way towards him, smiling genuinely when Ben looked up at her. He motioned to the chair in front of him, but Rey walked around to the same side of the table, pulling out the chair next to him and collapsing down into it. “I hate my grandfather so, so much.”

“I'm sorry you had to deal with him,” Ben said, reaching out to take her hand. “Hopefully, he at least gave you a good tip.”

“He was never going to give me a tip of any kind, let alone a good one, and I knew it,” Rey said, slumping into Ben's side. “And then you were in here but I couldn't come to talk to you and it was just really difficult to deal with.”

“Poe said you don't think your grandfather would approve of me.”

Rey sighed heavily. “It's not got anything to do with you as a person because you as a person are amazing. But my grandfather is not exactly the best at hiding his displeasure when it comes to anything that I'm doing or anyone that I'm associating myself with, and I don't want him to abuse his power and make your life at work a living hell. That's all.”

“I hardly ever come across him. I think I've met him like twice.”

“Still doesn't mean that he won't make your life a living hell. You think he can't tell the head of the English department what to do? Because I'm willing to bet that he can.”

“You're probably right about that, but I can't imagine Snoke would just do whatever it was that Palpatine asked him to. He's never struck me as that kind of guy.”

“Maybe, but I don't want to risk it,” Rey murmured, and Ben swallowed hard.

“So, um, if things go like we talked about the other day, the me falling in love with something other than books thing, would you tell him then?”

Rey smiled and squeezed his hand. “I want to tell him now. I just don't want you to end up in a bad position because of it. Sheev Palpatine is a man to be feared.”

Ben wanted to know more about that statement, but he knew that now wasn't the time to ask. “That didn't answer my question.”

“Yes,” Rey breathed out. “I'd tell him. Now can we talk about something else?”

Ben squeezed her hand back. “Whatever you want.”

“How were your classes today? I know you said you were dreading them.”

“I got so frustrated with my first two classes that I canceled the rest of them and went home,” Ben said, making Rey gasp. “I'm just joking.”

Rey smacked him lightly. “That's not funny.”

“They were atrocious, as per usual, but I got through them. I took great delight in telling them all that there is another surprise quiz next class, and then even more delight in saying that I wouldn't tell them what it would specifically be about, just something that we had covered in class. I'm sure my students probably think that I'm cruel, but I think that they are the ones who have been torturing me, not the other way around.”

Rey chuckled. “Trust me, you're torturing them too.”

“You're probably right about that.”

“You have a reputation for being very demanding of your students, but in a good way. It sounds like the ones you have right now are ones who can't handle that.”

Ben looked over at her. “I've got a reputation?”

“Yes, and from what I can tell based upon everything you've said to me about your classes, it's a deserved one. You're very passionate about your subject and if someone's not willing to put in the time to meet the standards that you think they should be meeting, then they aren't trying hard enough in your eyes. That makes you demanding. But, I say again, in a good way. You're not screaming at your students about how stupid they are the way I had a professor do to me in the middle of a lecture once.”

“Who?” Ben asked angrily. “That is wholly unprofessional.”

“I'm not telling you that,” Rey said, sitting up and putting a hand on Ben's cheek. “You're a fantastic professor. Everyone knows it. The students you have now are idiots if they can't see that and take the time to actually learn what it is you're teaching them. Don't worry about your reputation, okay? It's a good one.”

Ben stared at her for a moment before nodding, and then Rey leaned in and kissed him deeply. Ben's arms slowly came around her waist and pulled her closer, and they kissed until they heard a small cough. They broke apart to see Jannah standing there, smiling as she set a plate on the table. “Here's your food, Ben. Sorry for interrupting.”

“It's alright, Jannah,” Ben got out as Rey giggled into his shoulder. “Thank you.”

“Let me know if you need anything.”

“I should get back to work,” Rey said as Jannah walked away. “Poe told me to take as long as I wanted, but we're really busy and it's Jannah's first day.”

“Of course,” Ben said, nodding. “I'll be here until close if you want me to be.”

“You'd do that?”

“Yes.”

“It's only seven-thirty, Ben.”

“I am aware.”

“The café closes at one a.m. tonight.”

“I am aware of that too. I will stay till then if you want me to.”

Rey leaned in and kissed him again. “Then I will happily let you drive me home tonight instead of me taking the bus.”

“I'm more than happy to,” Ben replied, smiling at her. “I'll just be here waiting.”

“I'll be back when I can be,” Rey said, standing up. “And let Poe talk to you about Zorii, okay? I have no idea what that situation is all about but he said you do.”

Ben sighed heavily but nodded. “He's an idiot when it comes to her.”

“Tell me about it later then.”

Rey walked away and went to find Poe so she could get her order book back. Having Ben there was exactly what she needed after the experience of seeing her grandfather, but she couldn't help but think that she'd said too much. She was going to tell Ben everything, but she wasn't anywhere near ready to do that, and now she knew he'd have questions. 

She just hoped she knew how to deflect them when he asked.


End file.
